The first leadership class in Dawson County was held in 1992. The Dawson County Chamber of Commerce and the local extension office of the University of Georgia co-sponsored the original program and continue that partnership today.

Dawson County's Local Option Sales Tax collections are down by 20 percent; its planning and zoning fee revenues are down by 50 percent; officials cut more than $4 million out of the county budget; and commissioners voted last week to furlough county employees. But it's not economically distressed.